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    Your baby: Birth center or hospital.    
And if plans change, you've still got your midwife!

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If you’re pregnant and seeking midwifery care, welcome! If you’re making decisions about pregnancy and the people you’d like to invite into your circle of intimates, we’re glad you’re here. And if you’re looking for personal health care, but don’t need birth services, have a look at our primary care and wellness page. Kay Jackson, CNM, ARNP, owner of Off the Grid Midwifery & Health—and Stacey Oberle, our Office Goddess—welcome you Off the Grid, where we do everything a little differently…

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Our expertise includes safe waterbirth, hospital-based VBAC, use of hypnosis in labor (hypnobirthing, Hypnobabies), and personalized postpartum support. Kay has a special interest is in perinatal and postpartum mental health using genetic testing and computer diagnostics to guide personalized treatment. Kay offers respectful, person-centered care for pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

 

OUR BIGGEST DIFFERENCE: Kay is the South Sound’s ONLY independently practicing midwife able to provide Midwifery Model continuity of care both in- and out-of-hospital. We have privileges to practice at The Birthing Inn (Tacoma’s only freestanding birth center), and St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. This means that if you choose The Birthing Inn (an out-of-hospital location), but there is a problem requiring medical help, we would all go to St. Joe's together, where Kay would admit you and continue responsibility for your care, just as when you were at The Birthing Inn together. You would not be given over to an on-call or "no-Doc" obstetrician (no-Doc = pejorative for a person who has no doctor; implies indigence), as is the unfortunate case for most independent midwives and their clients. 

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The fear that “some kind of emergency” during labor might result in a chaotic trip away from your birth center and your midwife to an unfamiliar hospital with an unknown obstetrician where rough handling and frightening procedures ultimately lead to a Cesarean—can be laid to rest IF your midwife has hospital privileges. Because Off the Grid Midwidwifery does have privileges at St. Joe's, we can admit our clients in labor to the hospital when needed, even if labor started elsewhere. If you'd hoped to be at The Birthing Inn, but labor became suffering with no reasonable end in sight, we would call the hospital to let them know we're coming, travel with you by ambulance (or private car), and your family would follow. On arrival, you'd be admitted with Kay as your "attending provider." We'd write orders for care and help the nurses see to your comfort. As long as you and baby were stable, you were made comfortable, and labor began progressing normally, we wouldn't necessarily involve an obstetrician.

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True emergency help is rarely required, but “OB hospitalists”—obstetricians who are on staff at the hospital—are always available. Otherwise, Off the Grid Midwifery partners with Dr. Steven Maynard, an obstetrician in private practice who kindly lends his help to many South Sound community midwives, but only when asked. He does not interrupt your care or step in unless invited.

 

You can be undecided about where you want to give birth---you've got a whole pregnancy to think about that question (there's a reason for our 45-minute prenatal visits). You can be assured that barring catastrophic weather, the midwife you’ve come to know will be there to care for you in labor. We are NOT part of a large, faceless on-call group. We will be with you throughout actively progressing labor. Either in- or out-of-hospital, depending on your choice and your pregnancy's health.

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We want you to be comfortable in your decision as to place of birth. Your best birth plan rests in the provider (midwife or obstetrician) you choose, and in the place of birth. These will determine whether your informed requests for staying upright and moving in labor, a sidelying position for birth, delayed cord clamping, bathing the baby, and keeping your own placenta need to be enforced with a formal birth plan. Midwives not entrenched in one of the more hostile hospital environments tend to view these requests as components promoting a healthy birth. Nurses may be influenced by the culture of a hospital and its "policies" for better or worse. We've done some of the work for you as Kay partners with St. Joe's over other area hospitals that aren't as "friendly" to birthing people, their babies, their midwives, or doulas. We hope to help you discover where you will be most comfortable for birth, as your comfort and feeling of safety has a measurable effect on labor.

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Off the Grid Midwifery tailors after-baby care to your immediate needs, those that show themselves a couple of weeks later, and to your ongoing health in the weeks and months after that. Postpartum care is available in your home, in the clinic, and virtually.

 

Because adding a new family member comes with unexpected challenges, we screen for the many common physical, intimacy, and postpartum mood issues that can emerge. It seems natural to first address many of these with supplements, support, humor, and a hug. 

 

As a nurse practitioner, Off the Grid Midwifery's Kay Jackson can also help you decide when prescription medication is appropriate for any of the number of things that come up during or after a birth. 

We are here for you even after the baby comes...

Taking the "scary" out of health care...

You don't have to be left without the kind of personalized care you've come to expect from Off the Grid after you've had your baby.

 

Kay has been a reproductive health specialist for over 25 years and is committed to making sure annual exams and the evaluation of issues that arise during the year are taken care of in a relaxed and sensitive way.

 

You can take advantage of this kind of care throughout your lifetime. No matter your age -whether you're putting off starting a family, having difficulty getting one started, or you've come to the end of that road- midwives are with you for a lifetime.

 

And tell your mom and loved ones too. They may want the same consideration while navigating their own stages of life.

This beautiful video was a gift from Milkman-Media.com. We're so grateful to Bethany for telling her story and to her videographer husband for sharing his talent with Off the Grid. We're proud she allowed us to take part in her wonderful birth.

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Small Fellow Elliot's Mom:

I can’t even begin to express how grateful I feel to have found Kay. I’ve never felt able to truly be myself with a healthcare provider and Kay accepted my weirdness and anxiety every step of the way. We will never forget her calm, patience, and incredible stamina (through days of induction and an eventual c-section which was far different than our birth center plans) that brought our son into the world. Her incredible empathy and skill guided us through one of the most intense experiences - and she’s a laugh riot to boot. If you’ve felt ignored, dismissed, or disconnected from care before, make an appointment at Off the Grid.
 

We adore her.
Elizabeth, Ben, and small fellow Elliot

Autumn

Kay was so incredible throughout the entire pregnancy and delivery process. I had high anxiety and she was so caring and understanding. She’s also incredibly bright and knows what she is doing! I was able to have my dream water birth at Saint Joe’s in Tacoma.

Michelle

So glad to have had Kay with us on our journey to bring our son into the world! She helped calm any nerves or worries I had, was a reassurance that pregnancy and childbirth are a magical and short stage of life, is a wealth of information, and was such a calm presence at our birth. I'm really going to miss our regular visits!

Claire

I sure wish I had Kay as my midwife during my own 3 births. Kay helped my sister deliver a beautiful baby girl yesterday, and I can honestly say, it was an honor to witness a calm and natural environment with her as the midwife. All women should be treated the way my sister was treated. She never provoked fear or intervention and my sister was able to achieve the birth of her dreams. Thank you Kay.

Jayney

We arrive at the hospital in labor. ER Doc examined me, said I was at a 9. Thinking I would be delivering in the ER (ugh) my AMAZING Midwife Kay was quickly there to re-examine and come to find out I was at a 4! Thank God! Happy to not be delivering in the ER. Went up to my room, made comfortable. Kay even rubbed my feet. :-) 4 hours later, my 8lb baby girl was born a beautiful natural childbirth. I really loved and so appreciated Kay's TLC. Thank God for Midwives! 

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Jamie

We switched providers in my third trimester when she wasn't on board with a vbac and a larger baby. But Kay Jackson my wonderful midwife was on board and I think just as excited as we were about our vbac! And our wonderful doula Erinn was wonderful support from the day I walked into Kay's office. ♡♡

 

Fun side note from Kay: 

Jamie had an 11lb+ baby in about six hours with no trouble at all. And this a VBAC when she'd previously been told her Cesarean was because her 10lb baby would never fit. Actually, I'm glad I didn't know from the beginning what a keeper this "little" guy was going to be. Talk to us sometime about why bigger second and third babies can come right out when their older sib didn't.                                            -Kay

Katie

Loved Kay for well woman care 💕

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clinic location & numbers

6002 Westgate Boulevard, Suite 274, Tacoma, WA 98406

Office: (253) 509-2960 Fax: (306) 400-2735

Office manager & voicemail: (360) 633-9146

Secure e-Fax: (306) 400-2735 (Yes, the 306 area code is correct)

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clinic hours

Monday: generally 11 am to 5 pm

Wednesday & Thursday: 10am - 5pm

Rescheduling and special accommodations made for babies' needs and yours

Virtual appointments available

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